Looking and Living!

Did you hear the joke about the sad psychic? He said, "I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met." And then there was the man who asked, "Why do you need to make an appointment with a psychic? Don’t they already know you are coming?" I don’t recommend it, but millions turn to so-called psychics and all kinds of fortune-telling techniques to try and see into the future. All we have space to say here is that "you’d better watch out" – for, "... you do not konw what will happen tomorrow" (James 4:14a). The "you" in that verse applies to me, and you, and psychics, too! And if we can’t tell what will happen tomorrow, it’s a slam dunk we can’t know for certain what will happen in a week or a month or a year or a decade! Life’s highway is too full of twists and turns and curves and potholes for anybody to say with certainty all that is coming in the future.

Here’s something we do know with certainty. Jesus Christ is coming again! That announcement is made a number of times in the New Testament by Jesus and His inspired spokemen (see John 14:1-3, 1 Thessalonians, 4:13-18, and Hebrews 9:26-28 for especially clear statements). Jesus is coming again, and we don’t need a psychic to tell us that! What we don’t know and can’t know is exactly when He is coming. Jesus Himself left no wiggle-room on this point, saying in Mark 13:32: "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" (also Matthew 24:36). The Lord in that statement rendered useless the endless speculations that the Lord’s return is imminent and that we are seeing "the signs of the end of time." Let me say it again – we CAN know the Lord is coming back – but we CANNOT know when. Don’t forget Jesus’ words – "of that day and hour no one knows."

In Romans 13:11-14 the apostle Paul reminds us the future coming of Christ provides powerful incentive –not to obsess about when Christ will come, but rather to be faithful until He does, or until we die! "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." The most critical issue is not when Christ will come, but the fact that He will! Paul lived with an awareness that each passing day brings us closer to the day Jesus’ will return, whenever it is.



Robert G. Taylor told a story that gets to the point. During his 1960 presidential campaign, John Kennedy often closed his speeches with the story of Colonel Davenport, the speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives. One day in 1789, the sky over Hartford darkened ominously, and some of the rep’s, glancing out the windows, feared the end of time was at hand. Quelling a clamor for immediate adjournment, Davenport rose and said, "The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore I wish that candles be brought." We know Jesus is coming, but we don’t know when. It’s a good thing to look for His return (Titus 2:13). But even as we look, let us not fail to live for Him today!  Think about it.

  Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN

The Fear Factor!

   TV series called "Fear Factor" originally aired on NBC from 2001 to 2006. Contestants performed dangerous stunts, and viewers were warned the stunts ought not to be tried by anyone, anytime, anywhere! The winner received a $50,000 prize along with the accolade, "(Name) . . ., fear is not a factor for you." We admire fearless people. But is it always good that fear is not a factor? I heard a quote similar to the following one regarding education years ago, and found this one recently online at anscotia.com where it is attributed to a Dr. Julia Hare – "When they made our parents afraid of disciplining the children, then what happened? We found out that the teachers were afraid of the principals, the principals were afraid of the superintendent, the superintendent was afraid of the school board, the school board was afraid of the parents, the parents were afraid of the children, and the children ain’t scared of nobody." As I read that I smile inside, but cry a little, too. If you are at all aware of what goes on in many school hallways and classrooms, you realize there is more truth in those words than we ought to be comfortable with. There was a time in America not too long ago when we actually believed and supported the idea that teachers ought to have some authority over students in a classroom (and that "the system" and parents ought to back them up)! And policemen and policewomen over people in the streets. And parents over their children at home and church and other places. But now fear, the healthy kind synonymous with respect for authority, is less and less a factor these days. Instead of fear, there is a demand for freedom from restraints, boundaries and authority of any kind. Like Israel long ago, so it seems today in America – "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6; 21:25).  If you know much about Israel’s moral and spiritual behavior at that time, you know what was right in many people’s eyes was very, very wrong.

America has come a long way since earlier days, but in some ways the wrong way. "Authority" seems to be a dirty word now. Students and some parents don’t like school officials or church leaders talking about dress codes. Many people clearly don’t like speed laws. Some don’t want cops telling them they can’t walk down the middle of the street. Some refuse to show respect for the flag. Some bleed hatred and verbal violence toward the president and other politicians they don’t like. The legal system sometimes seems to care more for the rights of criminals than for those victimized and harmed by the law-breakers. There are no easy answers for these issues. I know this – we desperately need to make fear / respect of proper authority – for God and proper human authorities – a factor again. Christians can’t control culture at large, but Romans 13:3-4, calls on God's children to make sure fear is a factor:  "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil." Heaven help us make fear a factor again.

   Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN

A Counter-Cultural View of Government!

    David Lloyd George challenges our personal view of politics and politicians with these words: "A politician is a person with whose politics you don’t agree. If you agree with him, he is a statesman." Americans are living in an era when the political atmosphere is, to say the least, highly-charged. The word battles and political wrangling and verbal spin aimed at swaying the public’s opinion never ends. Talking heads and news-people on TV and radio vehemently assure us when we listen to them we are in a "no-spin zone" and that they stand for "the most trusted name in news." But depending on who you listen to, the Republicans or the Democrats are either the cause of all our current problems or the cure for them! Former Republican President George Bush gave voice to the sentiment all political candidates seek to stir into the political pot during campaigns – "My opponent has a problem. He won’t get elected unless things get worse, and things won’t get worse unless he gets elected." Many politicians have not helped public opinion about politicians and government. Political promises made and not kept, and so many moral failures and scandals on the part of individual politicians (from those in the White House to the State House to local Court Houses) that many people have just tuned out and turned off from politicians and the political process itself. As with the police and preachers, some people reach the unfair and illogical conclusion that one or two bad apples in a barrel mean the whole bunch is a rotten, stinking mess and ought to be thrown out! Tennessee’s Republican nominee for governor in the upcoming November (2018) election, Bill Lee, won his campaign for the Republican nomination saying he was best qualified for political office because he was not a politician!

There can be no denying it. Political cynicism and skepticism is at a high level. Some of the criticism in some cases is no doubt deserved. But Christians must be careful! In the words of the New Testament writer Jude, many people today "reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries" and "speak evil of whatever they do not know" (Jude 8, 10). God is not pleased when children of the Prince of peace become war-like in their attitude and language, let alone their actions. Political passion runs higher with some than others. Whatever your political preference (or if you don’t have one), the Holy Spirit speaks some very counter-cultural words about how to relate to government. It is almost certain you won’t hear these words on CNN or FOX news or from the myriad of "conservative" or "liberal" talk show hosts that saturate America. Here they are – "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves" (Romans 13:1-2). The people who first read those words didn’t get to vote on who ruled. The guy in their White House was not a Democrat or Republican. Yet they were taught to submit to governing authority. Unless man’s law asks us to disobey God’s law, we are obliged to be subject. "Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?" (Galatians 4:16)

     Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN